HIS side’s new-found determination and a desire to not be beaten has given Hinckley United manager Dean Thomas plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

The Knitters boss saw his charges beat Gateshead 2-0 on Saturday and follow it with a 1-1 draw against league leaders Southport on Monday.

But, despite the disappointment of the visitors’ equaliser coming from a last-gasp penalty, Thomas was full of optimism for the future.

Saturday’s win saw United race into a two-goal lead before being forced on to the defensive by a red card for Tom Birch.

And Thomas was delighted with his side’s application both before and after the red card.

He said: "I think the two goals killed them off and it was a good job because of the situation which arose.

"We dug in really well. I had to make a tactical change in taking Andy Hall off and it worked. We needed defensive players on the pitch and we kept our shape well.

"In terms of the effort and desire to win a game of football it was a wonderful performance."

On Birch’s dismissal, Thomas added: "I thought it was a sending off. Tom should never have put himself in that position in the first place. He should have reacted quicker and he suffered the consequences.

"There is a lot of competition at the moment.

Players need to be at their best and not putting themselves in the position where they can get suspended."

Thomas was also full of praise for the effort and desire shown against Southport.

"It was a proper game of football in hard conditions," he said.

"We want to try to get back the reputation of being a team who are hard to beat and we did that on Monday. Last year, we were a soft touch and that hasn’t been the case so far this year."

Disappointingly against Southport, centrehalf Leigh Platnauer gave away his third penalty in four matches, but Thomas was reluctant to criticise his player too harshly.

He said: "You can’t legislate for Leigh doing that. He was outstanding in the game but it is a bit of a concern that he has given away three penalties in four games.

"He is getting better as a player, he just needs to stop giving away penalties as we could be four points better off. He needs to learn from his mistakes and move on.

"I would have taken the point before but in the circumstances it felt like two points lost."

The lack of strength in depth seriously harmed the side last season, but Thomas has rectified that and is looking forward to Saturday’s visit to Hyde United.

Ewen Fields is a place Thomas has often referred to as a bogey venue. But the Tigers have endured a poor start to the season and the Knitters are ready to pounce.

"They haven’t won at home. They lost their last game 3-0 and are conceding goals so it looks like a good time to play them," said Thomas.

"We need to go there and put in another good performance. I’m taking nothing for granted.

"The secret will be if we can sustain this good start and be consistent.

"We’ve got Adam Webster and Leon Kelly coming back, and Alex Taylor should also be fit for the weekend. We can only get stronger and we are going there in good shape."

Dominic Roma returned to the bench on Monday, while Chima Dozie is also approaching full fitness but still needs to sort out clearance issues with the Home Office.